Mavs Travel to Dakotas this Week
Feb 11, 2014 | Women's Basketball
The Omaha women's basketball team heads north this weekend for a pair of games in the Dakotas. On Thursday, the Mavs stop in Brookings, S.D. to square off against Summit League co-leader South Dakota State. The Mavs then continue up I-29 to face North Dakota State on Saturday at 2 p.m. Live webcasts, audio and stats links will be available at OMavs.com for both games.
The Teams
The Mavericks (9-13, 1-7 Summit League) are led by Ericka House's 17.1 points per game, which ranks third in the Summit League. Felicia Anderson contributes 9.6 ppg off the bench, while Mikaela Shaw adds 9.5 ppg and 6.6 rebounds per game. Taijhe Kelly puts up 8.1 ppg, 7.1 rpg and a league-best 3.1 bpg. The Mavs as a team lead the league with 4.5 blocked shots per game. UNO is also first in opponents' field goal percentage (37.8 percent).
South Dakota State (17-8, 8-1 Summit League) is tied for the league lead with IUPUI. The Jackrabbits are coming off their first conference loss of the season to IUPUI, 76-66, on Feb. 8 in Indianapolis. SDSU had won eight in a row before that defeat. The Jackrabbits are 11-0 at home this season. Megan Waytashek leads the team with 11.4 points per game. Steph Paluch adds 9.8 ppg and had 21 in SDSU's Jan. 18 win in Omaha. The Jacks lead the league in rebounds (41.2 per game) and field goal percentage defense (35.7 percent).
North Dakota State (6-18, 2-7 Summit League) is in seventh place in the standings, just ahead of UNO. The Bison are led by Brooke LeMar's 15.5 points per game and 5.8 assists per game. Holly Johnson averages 12.0 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. Marena Whittle posts 12.3 ppg and 6.9 rpg. The Bison attempt more field goals per game (65.1) than any other league team but average a league-low 68.0 points per game.
Series History
UNO and South Dakota State are knotted 31-31 in the all-time series. The Jackrabbits notched an 80-66 win at the Sapp Fieldhouse on Jan. 18. Last year in Brookings, SDSU pulled away for a 69-56 win on Feb. 21.
North Dakota State leads the all-time series with UNO, 42-11. Omaha's lone conference win this season came against the Bison in a 66-48 victory at the Sapp Fieldhouse on Jan. 16. NDSU beat UNO, 63-62, last season in Fargo on Feb. 23.
Up Next
The Mavericks finish the home portion of their schedule with two games at the Sapp Fieldhouse next week. UNO hosts South Dakota on Thursday, Feb. 20, then welcomes Denver for Senior Day on Saturday, Feb. 22.
Maverick Notes
• Ericka House's 17.1 ppg ranks third in the Summit League. House is shooting 90.7 percent (49-of-54) from the free throw line to lead the league, and she has made 22 straight free throws dating back to Jan. 5. The senior from Hot Springs, Ark., has eight 20-point games this year and has led UNO in scoring 14 times.
• Taijhe Kelly leads the league with 3.1 blocked shots per game and ranks 11th nationally. She ranks third in the league with 7.1 rebounds per game on the season and second with 3.1 offensive boards per game. The junior center has moved up to fifth in school history with 179 career offensive rebounds and is 58 away from tying the school record.
• Freshman Mikaela Shaw has raised both her scoring and rebounding season averages in conference play. Through eight league games, Shaw has averaged 10.6 ppg and a team-best 7.0 rpg.
• The road has not been kind to the Mavericks of late. UNO is searching to snap a 10-game road losing streak dating back to a 67-63 win at Oakland on Feb. 2, 2013. The Mavs did go 2-0 in neutral-site games though this season.
Last Time Out
MACOMB, Ill. - Western Illinois erased a 12-point deficit to come back to snatch a 71-65 win over the Omaha women's basketball team last Thursday night at Waste Management Court at Western Hall. The Mavericks fell to 9-13 overall and 1-7 in Summit League play. Western Illinois improved to 12-11 and 4-4 in conference action. Five Mavs finished in double figures. Mikaela Shaw had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Ericka House had 15 points, Felicia Anderson had 13, Sami Pawlak had 11 points and nine rebounds, and Taijhe Kelly had 10 points and seven boards. Ashley Luke led WIU with 17 points and nine rebounds. After the Mavs' brilliant defensive effort in the first half limited the Summit League's second-leading scorer to two points on 1-of-4 shooting with no free throw attempts, she forced her way to the basket in the second half to tally 15 points after halftime on 5-of-8 shooting and 5-of-10 free throws. Michelle Maher also had 17 points.
Youth Movement
The Mavericks are by far the least experienced team in The Summit League this season. Seven of the 10 Mavericks who have played this season are first-year Division I players - five freshmen and two junior transfers. As of Feb. 10, the Mavericks led all Summit League teams with 70.2 percent of their minutes played by first-year Division I players. The next closest was South Dakota at 27.0 percent. The seven Mavericks new to Division I have combined for 60.2 percent of the Mavericks' points, 63.8 percent of rebounds and 86.6 percent of assists entering Thursday's game at South Dakota State.
Kelly Moving Up All-Time Blocks Chart
Junior center Taijhe Kelly is climbing her way up the career blocked shots chart at UNO. Kelly has 186 career blocks to rank second in school history. The school-record holder is Mary Henke-Anderson with 291 from 1979-83. Kelly swatted 74 shots in 2012-13, the third-highest single-season total in Maverick history. Only Henke-Anderson has had more blocked shots in a season (86 in 1980-81 and 75 in 1979-80). Kelly was first in The Summit League last season with her 2.6 blocks per game. Her 51 blocked shots in conference play were 26 more than the next closest competitor. Kelly is tied for the school record with seven blocked shots in one game, which she did on Feb. 7, 2013 against Western Illinois.
The Teams
The Mavericks (9-13, 1-7 Summit League) are led by Ericka House's 17.1 points per game, which ranks third in the Summit League. Felicia Anderson contributes 9.6 ppg off the bench, while Mikaela Shaw adds 9.5 ppg and 6.6 rebounds per game. Taijhe Kelly puts up 8.1 ppg, 7.1 rpg and a league-best 3.1 bpg. The Mavs as a team lead the league with 4.5 blocked shots per game. UNO is also first in opponents' field goal percentage (37.8 percent).
South Dakota State (17-8, 8-1 Summit League) is tied for the league lead with IUPUI. The Jackrabbits are coming off their first conference loss of the season to IUPUI, 76-66, on Feb. 8 in Indianapolis. SDSU had won eight in a row before that defeat. The Jackrabbits are 11-0 at home this season. Megan Waytashek leads the team with 11.4 points per game. Steph Paluch adds 9.8 ppg and had 21 in SDSU's Jan. 18 win in Omaha. The Jacks lead the league in rebounds (41.2 per game) and field goal percentage defense (35.7 percent).
North Dakota State (6-18, 2-7 Summit League) is in seventh place in the standings, just ahead of UNO. The Bison are led by Brooke LeMar's 15.5 points per game and 5.8 assists per game. Holly Johnson averages 12.0 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. Marena Whittle posts 12.3 ppg and 6.9 rpg. The Bison attempt more field goals per game (65.1) than any other league team but average a league-low 68.0 points per game.
Series History
UNO and South Dakota State are knotted 31-31 in the all-time series. The Jackrabbits notched an 80-66 win at the Sapp Fieldhouse on Jan. 18. Last year in Brookings, SDSU pulled away for a 69-56 win on Feb. 21.
North Dakota State leads the all-time series with UNO, 42-11. Omaha's lone conference win this season came against the Bison in a 66-48 victory at the Sapp Fieldhouse on Jan. 16. NDSU beat UNO, 63-62, last season in Fargo on Feb. 23.
Up Next
The Mavericks finish the home portion of their schedule with two games at the Sapp Fieldhouse next week. UNO hosts South Dakota on Thursday, Feb. 20, then welcomes Denver for Senior Day on Saturday, Feb. 22.
Maverick Notes
• Ericka House's 17.1 ppg ranks third in the Summit League. House is shooting 90.7 percent (49-of-54) from the free throw line to lead the league, and she has made 22 straight free throws dating back to Jan. 5. The senior from Hot Springs, Ark., has eight 20-point games this year and has led UNO in scoring 14 times.
• Taijhe Kelly leads the league with 3.1 blocked shots per game and ranks 11th nationally. She ranks third in the league with 7.1 rebounds per game on the season and second with 3.1 offensive boards per game. The junior center has moved up to fifth in school history with 179 career offensive rebounds and is 58 away from tying the school record.
• Freshman Mikaela Shaw has raised both her scoring and rebounding season averages in conference play. Through eight league games, Shaw has averaged 10.6 ppg and a team-best 7.0 rpg.
• The road has not been kind to the Mavericks of late. UNO is searching to snap a 10-game road losing streak dating back to a 67-63 win at Oakland on Feb. 2, 2013. The Mavs did go 2-0 in neutral-site games though this season.
Last Time Out
MACOMB, Ill. - Western Illinois erased a 12-point deficit to come back to snatch a 71-65 win over the Omaha women's basketball team last Thursday night at Waste Management Court at Western Hall. The Mavericks fell to 9-13 overall and 1-7 in Summit League play. Western Illinois improved to 12-11 and 4-4 in conference action. Five Mavs finished in double figures. Mikaela Shaw had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Ericka House had 15 points, Felicia Anderson had 13, Sami Pawlak had 11 points and nine rebounds, and Taijhe Kelly had 10 points and seven boards. Ashley Luke led WIU with 17 points and nine rebounds. After the Mavs' brilliant defensive effort in the first half limited the Summit League's second-leading scorer to two points on 1-of-4 shooting with no free throw attempts, she forced her way to the basket in the second half to tally 15 points after halftime on 5-of-8 shooting and 5-of-10 free throws. Michelle Maher also had 17 points.
Youth Movement
The Mavericks are by far the least experienced team in The Summit League this season. Seven of the 10 Mavericks who have played this season are first-year Division I players - five freshmen and two junior transfers. As of Feb. 10, the Mavericks led all Summit League teams with 70.2 percent of their minutes played by first-year Division I players. The next closest was South Dakota at 27.0 percent. The seven Mavericks new to Division I have combined for 60.2 percent of the Mavericks' points, 63.8 percent of rebounds and 86.6 percent of assists entering Thursday's game at South Dakota State.
Kelly Moving Up All-Time Blocks Chart
Junior center Taijhe Kelly is climbing her way up the career blocked shots chart at UNO. Kelly has 186 career blocks to rank second in school history. The school-record holder is Mary Henke-Anderson with 291 from 1979-83. Kelly swatted 74 shots in 2012-13, the third-highest single-season total in Maverick history. Only Henke-Anderson has had more blocked shots in a season (86 in 1980-81 and 75 in 1979-80). Kelly was first in The Summit League last season with her 2.6 blocks per game. Her 51 blocked shots in conference play were 26 more than the next closest competitor. Kelly is tied for the school record with seven blocked shots in one game, which she did on Feb. 7, 2013 against Western Illinois.
Players Mentioned
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